Alfieri has different roles and purposes within the play. His roles are to be a character in the play and also to be a narrator. As a character, Alfieri is a lawyer who Eddie trusts and goes to for advice several times throughout the play. For example, Eddie goes to Alfieri to ask about Catherine falling in love with Rodolpho and what he should do, he asks Alfieri “I’m talking to you confidential, ain’t I”. The only time that Alfieri interacts with a character apart from Eddie, is when he pays bail for Marco and Rodolpho. As the narrator in the play, he sets and introduces scenes throughout the play to the audience. An example of this is when he introduces Eddie, “This one’s name was Eddie Carbone, a longshoreman working the docks from Brooklyn Bridge to the breakwater where the open sea begins”.
Arthur Miller uses Alfieri to prepare his audience, set the scene and to summarise scenes to make sure that the audience does not miss out on any important parts of the play like one of Millers earlier plays called the ‘Crucible’. The Crucible was criticised for being difficult to interpret and difficult to grab the concept of. To make sure that ‘A View from the Bridge’ was easily understood, Miller used Alfieri. For example, when Alfieri comments on Eddie “His eyes were like tunnels; my first thought was that he had committed a crime”. This prepares the audience for a tension-filled scene and it is obvious that something serious is about to take place, or has taken place, at that point in the play. In my opinion, Alfieri is ideal for the role as narrator because his opinions and views are well respected due to the fact that he Lawyer, a profession that requires a good education.
Although Alfieri does not take as much a part in the play as Eddie, Rodolpho or Catherine, he is still the most important character. This is because Alfieri is the only character in the play that actually has a view from the bridge. In other words, Alfieri roles as a character and a narrator allow him to see the whole story of Catherine and Rodolpho for himself because he is overlooking Brooklyn from the bridge as the narrator. Thus giving the audience an unbiased view of the play. If, for example, Eddie was the narrator, then he would only give his side of the story, but Alfieri sees the play from each of the characters points of view and explains to the audience what is happening in an unbiased manner.
